Chapter 2: The Nursing Assistant and Care Team

Ambulation

Act of walking, with/without an assistive device

Assistive device

Special equipment that helps a person who is ill or disabled to perform activities of daily living

Chain of Command

Line of authority within a facility or agency

Charting

Documenting info/observations ab residents

Compassionate

Being cared, concerned, considerate, empathetic, and understanding

Conscientious

Guided by a sense of right and wrong; principled

Delegation

Transferring responsibility to person for a specific task

Empathy

Identifying with the feelings of others

Liability

Legal term that means someone can be held responsible for harming someone else

Personal

Relating to life outside one’s job, such as family, friends, and home life

Professional

Having to do with work or a job

Professionalism

Act of behaving properly when working

Range of Motion (ROM)

Exercises that put a particular joint through its full arc of motion

Scope of practice

Roles, responsibilities, and procedures that are within the knowledge, training, and legal definition of a profession

Sympathy

Sharing in the feelings/difficulties of others

Tactful

Showing sensitivity/having sense of what is appropriate when dealing with others

T/F: The resident is the most important member of the care team. Without the resident, there is no care team

TRUE!!!

The resident is able to give insight as to how they’d like their care to be given.

T/F: One of the most important jobs of a Nursing Assistant (NA) is helping residents with personal care

TRUE!!

NAs help residents with personal care (Bathing, brushing teeth, changing, etc)

NA Services

Performing assigned nursing tasks

Providing personal care or assisting with self-care

T/F: Observing changes in a resident’s condition/reporting them is NOT an important duty for NAs

FALSE!!!

Observing changes in a resident’s condition/reporting them is an important duty for NAs

NA Alejandra is on her way to give a bed bath to a resident,

which she was assigned to do. The resident in the room next

door calls out to her as she walks by, saying he needs help

getting up to use the toilet.

What should Alejandra do?

The bed bath hasn’t been initiated so she could go ahead and help the patient to use the toilet or ask someone available for help.

Professional behavior for an NA includes:

Providing person-centered care

Being positive and polite

Arriving/leaving on time and working efficiently

Doing only assigned tasks

Keeping resident information private

Not discussing personal problems w/residents or family members

Professionalism : DO NOT ex

Use personal phones while caring for residents

Use profanity, even if a resident does

Use disrespectful nicknames

Give/accept gifts

Professionalism: DO ex

Listen to residents/families

Use name/pronouns a resident prefers

Explain care before providing it

Follow practices that protect residents

T/F: Personal appearance is part of professionalism

TRUE!!

Personal appearance is part of professionalism → Proper hygiene/careful grooming are essential qualities of healthcare workers

Proper personal grooming habits:

• Bathe/shower daily

• brush/floss teeth

• wear deodorant; don’t use scented products/perfume

• Comb/brush hair; tie long hair back

• Dress neatly, in a clean wrinkle-free uniform that fits well

• Wear little/no makeup

Professional choices for each of these categories?

• Facial Hair, Identification Badge, Jewelry, Shoes, Fingernails

• Facial Hair: Neatly groomed/clean

• Identification Badge: Wear a badge if company policy requires one

• Jewelry: Simple watch; don’t wear large jewelry

• Shoes: Comfortable, clean, high-quality, closed-toe shoes that will not slip easily

• Fingernails smooth, short, don’t wear artificial nails, nail polish, or wraps

Chain of Command

Administrator (Highest) → Medical Director (MD) → Assistant Director of Nursing (ADON) → Staff Development Coordinator → Minimum Data Set (MDS) → Nursing Supervisor → Charge Nurse → Staff Nurses (RNs, LPN/LVN), Nursing Assistants (NAs)

Who can? Who can’t?

Diagnose illness

Help a resident with bathing

Discuss a treatment plan with a resident or family

member

Give a resident a medication

Help a patient get ready in the morning

Change a dressing on an infected wound

Diagnose illness → Doctor

Help a resident with bathing → Nursing Assistant

Discuss a treatment plan with a resident or family → Doctor

member

Give a resident a medication → RNs

Help a patient get ready in the morning → Nursing Assistant

Change a dressing on an infected wound → RNs

Ppl whose input is needed for care planning

Patient !!

Doctors, therapist, nutritionist, NA

5-Step nursing Process

Assessment → Resident’s status, including health, environment, family support

Diagnosis→ Problems identified after looking at all resident’s needs

Planning → What are the goals (expected outcomes) of providing care?

Implementation → How will we achieve these goals (therapy, nursing, etc)?

Evaluation → Signs to check that we are on right path? Are we meeting our goals?

Why is delegation an especially important word for NAs to understand?

Delegation = Transferring responsibility to a person for a specific task

• Given the various shifts, NA should be informed of what responsibilities to complete

Five Rights of Delegation

Right task

Right circumstance

Right person

Right direction/communication

Right supervision/evaluation

5 important strategies for NAs to use in managing their time/efficiency:

• Plan ahead

• Prioritize

• Make a schedule

• Combine activities

• Get help

T/F: NAs can provide better care if they ask for help when they need it

TRUE!!

1/5 important strategies is “Get Help”

• Could even make the case for “Combine activities”